One possibility might be Russia could only have won if it was quick enough to outpace the world outrage? ...like in Georgia, and Crimea.
At this point I really cant see a way out of this where Putin wins, even if he does on the ground.
Even if they win the war, they lose the peace.
Oh but I agree that long term it will be an L, we talked about it before the invasion began. I was talking about the twitter thread I was quoting : it suggested that paras were being riot police is the reason Russia lost the war. Like there are several steps missing in the demonstration to reach that conclusion yet.
Here : Thread by @kamilkazani on Thread Reader App